Our advocates have powerful stories about why they became advocates for better bone health and how they have overcome the challenges of living with or caring for someone with osteoporosis. Share Your Story and Make a Difference Stories are a powerful way to show policymakers the impact that osteoporosis has on their constituents and their community because they showcase the human side of the disease.Please share your story about living or caring for someone with osteoporosis.

Meet Linda Johnson from Brentwood, Maryland After suffering several painful fractures, Linda Johnson was finally diagnosed with osteoporosis at age 43. While at first relieved to have a diagnosis, Linda was devastated when she learned that because she was premenopausal there was little her doctor could do to help prevent future bone loss. That was back in 1991. Today, Linda has found an exercise and treatment plan that works and is an advocate for better bone health. On May 21, 2009 Linda shared her compelling story at a congressional briefing hosted by NOF, in conjunction with the National Coalition for Osteoporosis and Related Bone Diseases (Bone Coalition), to engage Congress in an action plan for making bone health a national priority. “Someone once asked me if osteoporosis hurts. I had to think about it for a moment, and then I told her that osteoporosis is called the “silent disease” because, like termites in a house, we do not hear these termites as they eat away at the foundation of our homes. It isn’t until the beams holding our homes together are weakened and our home starts to fall down that we suddenly hear and see the problem. Osteoporosis is silent, and often painless, while our bones are quietly becoming weaker, until it screams at you with the pain of your first fracture.” Read more...